Once Upon Another Time

By James Riley

Part of the Once Upon Another Time series

A genie and a tiny giant must thwart a king's dark plan to save their fairy-tale world.

4.0/5 Goodreads · 407 ratings

322 pages· 62,595 words· Est. 8.5 hour read

$18.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Lena, a tiny giant hiding her true self, and Jin, a genie bound to a power-hungry king, face a dire challenge. The Golden King’s dark magic threatens their world, and his next wish could doom them all. As Jin is tasked with capturing the Last Knight, Lena’s friend, they must decide where their loyalties lie. Can they stop the king's sinister plot before it's too late? In a world where appearances deceive, Lena and Jin must navigate friendship, identity, and destiny to protect everything they hold dear. Will they succeed, or will the fairy-tale world fall?

From the publisher

Storybook characters collide in this first book in a new trilogy of twisted fairy tales from New York Times bestselling author James Riley, set in the world of his popular Half Upon a Time series–perfect for fans of Fablehaven and Chris Colfer’s A Tale of Magic series! Five and a half feet might seem pretty tall for a twelve-year-old, but it’s not when your parents are giants. Lena has kept the fact that she’s a tiny giant secret, using magic to grow when out in the giant village. But hiding who she is has always felt wrong, even though she knows the other giants might not accept her. Fortunately, Lena has friends down in the Cursed City who understand that looking different doesn’t make her less of a giant. Someone who knows not to judge by appearances is Jin, a young genie currently serving one thousand and thirty-eight years of genie training that requires him to fulfill the wish of whoever holds his magical ring. In Jin’s case, it’s the power-hungry Golden King. At least the king only has two wishes left, one of which is for Jin to go to the Cursed City and capture its protector, the Last Knight–one of Lena’s closest friends. What Lena and Jin don’t know is how close the Golden King’s plans are to coming together, between his dark magic and his horrible Faceless knights. If Jin does find the Last Knight and bring him to the Golden King, why, that could doom the entire fairy-tale world. …This sounds like it’ll end badly, doesn’t it?

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